Psychological impact of COVID-19 on medical care workers in China

Abstract

Background: Medical care workers experienced unprecedented levels of workload and pressure since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little is known about its exact impact on medical care workers and related factors in China. This study aims to identify the psychological impact of COVID-19 on medical care workers in China. Methods: From February 23 to March 5, 2020, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 863 medical care workers from seven provinces in China using standard questionnaires measuring adverse psychological outcomes including Impact of Event Scale-6 (IES-6), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale(DASS)and related psychosocial factors like perceived threat, social support and coping strategies. Exploratory Factor analysis was performed to identify the dimensions of perceived threat by study participants. Multivariate regression was used to examine the determinants of adverse psychological outcomes. Results: Posttraumatic stress (PTS) were prevalent in this sample of health care professionals, and 40.2% indicated positive screens for significant posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The proportion of having mild to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were 13.6, 13.9 and 8.6%, respectively. Perceived threat and passive coping strategies were positively correlated to PTS and DASS scores, while perceived social support and active coping strategies were negatively correlated to DASS scores. Nurses were more likely to be anxious than others among medical care workers during the COVID-19 epidemic. Conclusions: Adverse psychological symptoms were prevalent among medical care workers in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Screening for adverse psychological outcomes and developing corresponding preventive measures would be beneficial in decreasing negative psychological outcomes.

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Healthcare Workers Dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

“…According to the literature, lack of social support is a known predictor of occupational stress in HCWs [ 37 , 38 ], and it is defined as “the feeling that one is cared for and has assistance available from other people” and “that one is part of a supportive social network” [ 38 ]. As revealed by Si et al [ 21 ], a supportive work environment is a buffering factor of negative psychological health among HCWs and protects them from PTSS during the COVID-19 pandemic; in fact, in their study, the authors found that social support had the greatest impact on the mental health of HCWs: low (OR: 5.49, 95% CI: 4.04, 7.45) and moderate (OR: 2.73, 95% CI: 2.42, 3.07) levels of social support were associated with a higher risk of PTSD compared to high levels of social support [ 19 ].…”

COVID-19 is having a destructive impact on health-care workers’ mental well-being

“…Hypervigilance, which is our highest increased symptoms during COVID-19, was not measured in previous studies. Symptoms as distress [ 12 , 13 , 16 ] and decreased appetite or indigestion are also frequently reported [ 12 ]. Our results are also in line with negative professional symptoms as stopping with the present job [ 15 , 22 ].…”

COVID-19 adversely affects the psychological status of healthcare workers in the emergency room

“…In our study, we observed that physicians and nurses had higher BAI and PSS scores than other staff, and scores of nurses were significantly higher than the physicians. This may be due to the fact that nurses are always in close contact with a variety of patients with various illnesses, with different socio-economic status and perform procedures including blood sampling and throat swab sampling, therefore, they are in the group with the highest risk of having COVID-19 [24]. The healthcare workers who are most in contact with the patient and most at risk should be considered more during the infectious disease outbreaks and should be supported psychologically [25].…”